Rajnish Kumar, Mohandas Pai to exit Byju’s advisory council

Former State Bank of India chief Rajnish Kumar and Manipal Global Education chairman Mohandas Pai will not be renewing their contracts to be a part of the board advisory council at Byju’s adding to the mounting troubles at the cash-strapped edtech firm.

Pai and Kumar’s contracts end on June 30, people familiar with the matter said. They had joined the advisory council after investors Peak XV Partners, Prosus and Chan Zuckerberg Initiative left the edtech firm’s board year.

The company along with Pai and Kumar said there was no need to extend the tenure of the advisory council beyond the previous decided one year.

“Based on our discussions with the founders, it was mutually decided that the tenure of the advisory council should not be extended. Though the formal engagement concludes, the founders and the company can always approach us for any advice. We wish the founders and the company the very best for the future,” Kumar and Pai said in a joint statement, shared by the company’s spokesperson.

“There has not been much to discuss recently because most of the disputes are in various courts and tribunals. The council was formed with a one-year timeline… Given how things are at the firm, the council will essentially dissolve now,” a person aware of the matter said.

While Kumar and Pai, a former chief financial officer at Infosys, were part of the council, only the founding members of Byju’s — Byju Raveendran, his wife Divya Gokulnath and brother Riju Ravindran — are on its board now.

The latest departure comes soon after Byju’s India chief executive Arjun Mohan left the firm last month, spending little over six months in the role. Founder Raveendran has taken over the daily operations at the firm since Mohan’s exit.“Rajnish Kumar and Mohandas Pai have provided invaluable support in the past year. The ongoing litigations by a few foreign investors have delayed our plans but their advice will be relied upon in the ongoing rebuild which I am personally leading,” founder Raveendran said in a statement.

Business news publication Mint reported the development first on Sunday evening.

The company continues to battle investors in the Karnataka High Court as well as the National Company Law Tribunal over several issues, including a $200 million rights issue at a 99% discount to the company’s peak valuation of $22 billion, as well Raveendran being at the helm of affairs at Byju’s parent Think & Learn.

Raveendran, since taking over India operations, has slashed course prices and held a meeting with sales executives on how to revamp the process from its earlier practices, ET reported on May 9. The company continues to be cash-strapped and Raveendran has been borrowing money to clear pending staff salaries.